Abstract
The political role of Shi'i religion in the tobacco movement of 1890–1892 against the Qajar state and a British company in Iran is considered. Using this historically significant event, this article pursues a dual objective. First, it makes a modest attempt to clarify the connection between ideology and class action. The utility of conceiving ideology as a discourse, a set of general principles and concepts, rituals and symbols that shape class action, is suggested. Second, after summarizing and criticizing the existing explanations of Shi'i politics in the 19th century, it offers an alternative interpretation of the oppositional role of Shi'ism in the politics of late 19th-century Iran. I argue that in the tobacco movement Shi'i Islam constituted a language for addressing the problem of British domination; it transcended class differences and provided an effective tactic for mobilizing support against a British monopoly. The merchants' capacity to act was not simply the result of their organization and resources but was enhanced by Shi'i discourse.
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Moaddel, M. Shi'i political discourse and class mobilization in the tobacco movement of 1890–1892. Sociol Forum 7, 447–468 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117556
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01117556